In recent years, &uot;Building By Faith&uot; has been an ongoing theme at Parkway Baptist Church on Seargent S. Prentiss Drive. And after spending so much time looking to the future, the church is ready to take the next vital step in its growth process. It will break ground on its future fellowship hall/nursery complex this weekend.

&uot;We feel like we know now that it’s God’s timing. Everything has fallen into place,&uot; said Minister of Music Tommy Quinn.

The church has been raising money for the project for the past three years and members have been discussing the project for at least eight years, Quinn said.

&uot;Building by Faith&uot; has been the project theme, he added.

&uot;We’ll have a place to have fellowship and we hope to fill it up with people from the community,&uot; Quinn said about the new center.

The church has placed a greater emphasis on outreach and as a result the church has grown to a Sunday School attendance of more than 400.

An outreach program called &uot;Faith&uot; has been a big help in this process, Quinn said.

Because of the growth, the new building is needed.

&uot;We’ll be able to have fellowship with our whole church,&uot; Quinn said. &uot;We’re excited about having everybody under one roof when we have fellowship.&uot;

The new building will cost at least $1.6 million and will include nursery space on the first floor and a fellowship hall on the top floor.

The church’s existing fellowship hall can only hold about 150 people.

The new facility will hold 450, Quinn said.

The church will hold its ground breaking at 11:45 a.m. Sunday following its morning service. The event will be followed by a church fellowship.

Construction is expected to begin within a week and should be completed by next spring.

Wilmar Construction is also going to put in a concrete slab at the site that will later be developed into a Family Life Center, Quinn said.